Kings, The Books of
The two books of Kings formed originally but one book in the Hebrew Scriptures. The present division into two books was first made by the LXX., which now, with the Vulgate, numbers them as the third and fourth books of Kings, the two books of Samuel being the first and second books of Kings.
They contain the annals of the Jewish commonwealth from the accession of Solomon till the subjugation of the kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians (apparently a period of about four hundred and fifty-three years). The books of Chronicles (q.v.) are more comprehensive in their contents than those of Kings. The latter synchronize with 1 Chr 28:1–21-2 Chr 36:21. While in the Chronicles greater prominence is given to the priestly or Levitical office, in the Kings greater prominence is given to the kingly.
The authorship of these books is uncertain. There are some portions of them and of Jeremiah that are almost identical, e.g., 2 Kings 24:18-25 and Jer 52:1–34; Jer 39:1–10; Jer 40:7–41:10. There are also many undesigned coincidences between Jeremiah and Kings (2 Kgs 21:1–26-23 and Jer 7:15; Jer 15:4; Jer 19:3, etc.), and events recorded in Kings of which Jeremiah had personal knowledge. These facts countenance in some degree the tradition that Jeremiah was the author of the books of Kings. But the more probable supposition is that Ezra, after the Captivity, compiled them from documents written perhaps by David, Solomon, Nathan, Gad, and Iddo, and that he arranged them in the order in which they now exist.
In the threefold division of the Scriptures by the Jews, these books are ranked among the “Prophets.” They are frequently quoted or alluded to by our Lord and his apostles (Matt 6:29; Matt 12:42; Luke 4:25, Luke 4:26; Luke 10:4; comp. 2 Kgs 4:29; Mark 1:6; comp. 2 Kgs 1:8; Matt 3:4, etc.).
The sources of the narrative are referred to (1) “the book of the acts of Solomon” (1 Kgs 11:41); (2) the “book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah” (1 Kgs 14:29; 1 Kgs 15:7, 1 Kgs 15:23, etc.); (3) the “book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel” (1 Kgs 14:19; 1 Kgs 15:31; 1 Kgs 16:14, 1 Kgs 16:20, 1 Kgs 16:27, etc.).
The date of its composition was some time between B.C. 561, the date of the last chapter (2 Kgs 25:1–30), when Jehoiachin was released from captivity by Evil-merodach, and B.C. 538, the date of the decree of deliverance by Cyrus.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
